Producer: James William Guercio
Track listing: Prelude to Aire /Aire / Devil’s Sweet Italian from New York / Hanky Panky Life Saver / Happy Man / (I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long / Mongonucleosis / Song of the Evergreens / Byblos / Wishing You Were Here / Call on Me / Woman Don’t Want to Love Me / Skinny Boy
April 27, 1974
1 week
For Chicago’s seventh album, the band returned to Jim Guercio’s Caribou Ranch, and returned musically to the jazz roots and multi-disc format that had launched the group’s greatest successes. The band also spent its longest stretch ever recording an album, as the sessions ran from August until December of 1973.
“Some of the purest jazz we ever did is on that album,” says drummer Danny Seraphine, who wrote or co- wrote the album’s first three tracks, all of which are instrumentals. “Aside from the first record, I think that may be the best album we ever made. It was the best combination of jazz and pop we recorded.”
Jazz and pop weren’t the only kinds of music that Chicago mined on its seventh album. The track “Mongonucleosis” was a salsa number. “Hap Man,” written and sung by bassist/vocalist Peter Cetera, was a basso nova-type ballad. The Latin influence in Chicago’s sound was expanded with the addition of Brazilian percussionist Laudir De Oliveria, who appeared as a session player on Chicago VI. In 1974, prior to recording Chicago VIII, De Oliveria became the band’s eighth member. “The Latin groove was evident on some of the earlier albums, but Laudir solidified it,” Seraphine says.
With multiple songwriters in the band, there was often competition between band members to land their compositions on the albums. “It was like a big family sitting at a dinner table grabbing for food,” Seraphine says. “Usually the best songs got on the record.” All seven members of the band had songwriting credits on the album.
Chicago VII hit the summit of the Top LP’s & Tapes chart in its fifth week on the chart, but only held the spot for one week, the shortest span of any of group’s five Number One albums. Yet Chicago VII did spawn three hit singles. “(I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long” peaked at number nine on May 1, 1974. “Call on Me,” the second single from the album, reached number six on August 10, and “Wishin’ You Were Here” climbed to number 11 on November 30, 1974.
Al Jardine and Carl and Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys, who were also managed by Guercio, dropped by the Caribou Ranch during the sessions and sang backing vocals on “Wishin’ You Were Here.” The use of the Beach Boys was quite appropriate, as the ballad opens with the sounds of the ocean. Says Seraphine, “It turned out great, and it was the start of a relationship that went on for years,” as the two groups would often tour together in the following years.
“Skinny Boy,” the album’s closing track, featured guest vocals by the Pointer Sisters. The song also served as the title track of keyboardist Robert Lamm’s solo album, which was released in August 1974 but failed to chart. While Lamm wasn’t able to achieve solo success, the hits kept right on coming for Chicago.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of April 27, 1974
1. Chicago VII, Chicago
2. John Denver’s Greatest Hits, John Denver
3. The Sting, Soundtrack
4. Band on the Run, Paul McCartney & Wings
5. Tubular Bells, Mike Oldfield